‘Portugal’s general election in March saw an alliance of right-wing parties form a minority government after nine years of Socialist rule. But the far-right Chega more than quadrupled its presence in parliament.’

Franklin Nelson reports from the Algarve: lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/may/…

‘How​ did it happen? The motivation of the companies producing Factor VIII in the US was clear: profit.’

Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite on the infected blood scandal, from November: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/…

Slightly late to this but reading Azadeh Moaveni’s comprehensive and exceptional piece in the London Review of Books on sexual violence in wartime. This isn’t news, but it’s astounding how media outlets find the violation of some bodies more objectionable than others. lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

On the folly of expecting capitalism to clean up its own mess with the same toolkit that created it.

Would be keen to see a Daniela Gabor response in the letters, but I think it is good and not before time to see a more serious and public discussion.

lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

‘Raphael Samuel wasn’t interested only in oral history as a technique of the professional historian but in oral traditions as live transmitters of political history and collective identity.’

Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite on Samuel’s essays: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

‘In Twain’s novels, slaves are freed out of Christian charity – someone remembers them in a will. Everett’s plots are more likely to hinge on the use of firearms.’

Deborah Friedell reads Percival Everett’s retelling of 𝘏𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘯: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

'It suited almost everyone after Mussolini's fall from power in 1943 to blame him personally for the disasters of the war'

Prof John Foot (BristolItalian) questions Italy's national memory of the Second World War in a new piece for the London Review of Books

lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

‘The crimes set out in the Rome Charter and in customary law all concern attacks on civilians. In its assault on Gaza Israel has committed many of the same potential crimes as the Hamas operatives.’

Conor Gearty on the ICC, from November: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/…

The Past Present Future podcast concludes its series on the history of bad ideas with a look at Mesmerism. Helen Lewis and David Runciman explore what can it tell us about twenty-first century phenomena from online social contagion to hypnotherapy. Listen here: linktr.ee/ppfideas

‘Sanghera warns against the “balance-sheet” approach: was the empire on balance a good thing or a bad one? Instead, he is interested in imperial contradictions and paradoxes.’

Neal Ascherson reads Sathnam Sanghera’s 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

‘“Interwar” raises in various ways – though always implicitly – the question “What is so invalid about sham?” We admire follies, the ruins of castles that never were, a petrol station dressed up like a pagoda, eye-catchers, temples – so why not the semi?’

lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

‘Left-wingers and right-wingers spoke of how far Portugal has come since 1974. About 3 per cent of today’s population cannot read or write, down from 33 per cent in the years before the revolution.’

Franklin Nelson in the Algarve, from the blog: lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/may/…

‘A complete shield would have weighed up to 10 kg, and there’s a wooden replica that visitors are invited to lift: I wouldn’t want to march twenty miles carrying it.’

Thomas Jones visits ‘Legion: Life in the Roman Army’ at the British Museum: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

EVENTS THIS WEEK!

TONIGHT: London Review of Books Screen X MUBI: Arabian Nights: Volume 1, The Restless One w/ Marina Warner, at The Garden Cinema lrb.me/screen

WED: Lucy Sante in conversation w/ Juliet Jacques, at the Bookshop lrb.me/pu3

‘Meloni wants to frame the war as a universal tragedy with “good and bad people on both sides”, to ignore the role of her political ancestors in causing the disaster.’

John Foot on the longevity of stereotypes of the ‘bad German’ and ‘good Italian’: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

‘In 1989, the fatwa had gone viral. You didn’t have to have read Rushdie’s book or know anything about Islam to have a reaction to it.’

Amir Ahmadi Arian on Iran, political opportunism and the life-changing consequences for Salman Rushdie: lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

A vituperative 1979 debate pitted E.P. Thompson against Stuart Hall and Richard Johnson. At stake: Should history focus on realism or theory? lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

A splendid and brilliantly-written (as ever, we're talking Jonathan Meades here) review of Gavin Stamp's 'Interwar'
C20 Society London Review of Books
#architecture

Higher Ordinariness lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…